DVDs and Films You Have Watched Recently #2

[ThumpSquids]

Watched Monsters last night. Gorgeous film, if you like your pics a little arty. Easy pace, with lashings of beauty thrown in. Good stuff.

[Mr_Danger]

I watched Misery again the other night, i never noticed the first foot bend like that before

[Kookoocachu]

Yesterday I watched TRON and Red Eye.

 

TRON: I have a massive soft spot for the original so when I heard they were remaking it I was a bit worried. Then the teasers came out, I was gripped and started to look forward to it coming out in the cinemas. I never did get to see it and for some reason I wasn't that bothered. Maybe I was a bit scared it would ruin the original for me. So I sat down to finally watch it with Dyllan yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. I did find myself nit picking at the continuity etc, but I do that with everything. Overall I enjoyed it and so did Dyllan.

 

Red Eye: After watching this film I said to myself 'Good, but not great'. Like I have an imaginary friend who visits after Dyllan is in bed. It's usually the same friend who tells me to open that bottle of wine and who I turn and say 'WTF?' to when I'm skipping around the internet. I found myself conversing with this said friend throughout watching Red Eye. Mostly due to the big question of 'why?' at almost every decision the lead female role made. I couldn't help but feel that Craven constructed this character in a way that would never portray someone in her situation in real life. The person in question would have just said 'ok' (insert okguy.jpg). That said, this is a film and not real life. As far as it went it was good, but there could have been so much more done with it. The acting was great considering the nature of the lead female role, if it was me I would have been saying 'But this would never happen' constantly. Like I said, it's a good film but not a great film.

[Chest Rockwell]

I saw Thor at the weekend.. I gotta say I'm surprised with all the rave reviews it has been getting. It was silly and camp; I think the cheesiest superhero film so far of the last ten years or so, and Fantastic Four was really cheesy.

 

It was still fun, but in no way deserving of the praise it has been getting.

 

The guy who played Thor has the stupidest voice ever. Him and his band of good time buddies were all corny as hell. I found myself thinking about the old Flash Gordon film whilst watching this.

[tiger_rick]

Saw Get Him To The Greek on Friday, it's on premiere this week. It was alright, nothing really special but worth a watch. I quite like Jonah Hill, I think he's pretty good and he was again. Russell Brand was really good in it too as he was in Forgetting Sarah Marshall which this is a spin off from. The black record company boss character is a bit weak and it doesn't really explore Brand's character as much as it might but for what it is it delivered a few laughs and an reasonable hour and half's entertainment.

 

Also watched Erin Brockovich again, not seen it for about 7 years. Wasn't quite what I remembered but it's still a decent film. Always had a thing for Julia Roberts mind.

[Jas]

Fast and Furious 5

[Loki]

What was number 4 like? Quite enjoyed the first one, bit of a Vin fan so I'm thinking of dipping back in at the point he rejoins the franchise.

[Jas]

What was number 4 like? Quite enjoyed the first one, bit of a Vin fan so I'm thinking of dipping back in at the point he rejoins the franchise.

 

That wasn't too bad, certainly better than 2 and 3 and there's no doubt having Diesel back elevates the movie into something a bit more special and makes it feel like the 'proper' sequel to the original.

[Hyperion]

I've been on a bit of a retro kick lately and torrented some of my childhood classics some of which aren't available to buy new anymore. Not only is it a trip down memory lane, its interesting to find out if they still stand up to my older eyes.

 

The first two I watched were:

1) High Road To China

The 27th highest grossing film of 1983, all I really remembered mostly from back in the day was Tom Selleck shooting a Lewis Gun. The plot involves a spoilt heiress Eve Tozer living it up in 1920's Istanbul, when her aide (played by Michael 'Admiral Ozzel/Mr Bronson/Hitler' Sheard) informs her that she will lose her inheritance to her father's villainous business partner if she doesn't find her father and present him to the London courts before he is officially declared dead. With the business partner sending numerous goons to stop her quest, she recruits O'Malley (Selleck), a drunken rough around the edges pilot and his two bi-planes to help her find her dad.

The relationship between Tozer and O'Malley is in a similar vein to Leia/Solo & Jones/Ravenwood, the film is sort of an Indiana Jones cash in. It features Brian Blessed & Wilford Brimley both seemingly having a blast helping the film roll from a slow start into an enjoyable adventure, Selleck is also fun to watch especially when rowing with the annoying Tozer. The Bi-planes get plenty of action, bombing, strafing and dogfighting against a German ace, the ending features a battle between a chinese fort (where our heroes are shacked up) against an invading Warlord.

The fact its set in the 1920's helps the film not look as dated as it might have done and while not a classic it was quite fun watching it again.

 

2) Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Also made in 1983 but ranked 44th highest grossing, it unfortunately got steamrolled over by coming out a week before Return Of The Jedi, least it got one week at #1 first. This film is like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Mad Max 2 and the Borg from Star Trek in a blender but having enough originality to stand on its own. The film quality still looks great which has helped it age well and I was more impressed now than when I was younger by the amount of locations and big sets they employed throughout the film that made up for the fact there isn't much going on in the way of outer space stuff.

The movie starts with a galactic cruise ship getting hit by a meteor (Titanic in space anyone) only one escape pod makes out with 3 hot chicks inside they are taken prisoner by some Marauders. Our lead Peter Strauss hears of a reward for recovering those ladies and pilots his ship to the planet they are on with his female android at his side. On his adventures there he gets help from a 14 year old Molly Ringwald and has encounters with rival hunter Ernie Hudson & The Scavs, and battles the Zoners, maggot men, merwomen, mutated firebomb throwing midgets and the villainous cyborg Overdog (played to perfection by Michael Ironside). I can easily enjoy this as much as Star Wars and I appreciate the effort they put into it to make it look good and keep the story moving.

Bit of an early Ghostbusters thing going on with Reitman producing, Hudson starring plus an uncredited voice over by Harold Ramis. Adds to the fun.

 

I'll post again about the rest.

[RJ Impact]

American Psycho:Not a new film but a good 'un, Christian Bale is great in it and is a great character actor, Im sure most have seen it so wont go into details but its a must watch.

 

Fast 5: saw it when it came out and really enjoyed it (Rock and Vin whats not to like?), as said its non-stop has alot of action and has a decent story.

 

The Rock steals Vin Diesels muscley hard man role cause he looks taller and more jakked but vin does hold his own and they have some great exchanges.

[Poopants the Scrunge]

2) Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Also made in 1983 but ranked 44th highest grossing, it unfortunately got steamrolled over by coming out a week before Return Of The Jedi, least it got one week at #1 first. This film is like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Mad Max 2 and the Borg from Star Trek in a blender but having enough originality to stand on its own. The film quality still looks great which has helped it age well and I was more impressed now than when I was younger by the amount of locations and big sets they employed throughout the film that made up for the fact there isn't much going on in the way of outer space stuff.

The movie starts with a galactic cruise ship getting hit by a meteor (Titanic in space anyone) only one escape pod makes out with 3 hot chicks inside they are taken prisoner by some Marauders. Our lead Peter Strauss hears of a reward for recovering those ladies and pilots his ship to the planet they are on with his female android at his side. On his adventures there he gets help from a 14 year old Molly Ringwald and has encounters with rival hunter Ernie Hudson & The Scavs, and battles the Zoners, maggot men, merwomen, mutated firebomb throwing midgets and the villainous cyborg Overdog (played to perfection by Michael Ironside). I can easily enjoy this as much as Star Wars and I appreciate the effort they put into it to make it look good and keep the story moving.

Bit of an early Ghostbusters thing going on with Reitman producing, Hudson starring plus an uncredited voice over by Harold Ramis. Adds to the fun.

 

I'll post again about the rest.

 

One of my favourite films growing up, total schlock but enjoyable and sinister as all hell in places (the mutants mostly), have not seen it in years, I seem to recall it was left nicely positioned for a sequal...

Didn't realise it lost out due to Jedi..life is harsh sometimes.

[Hyperion]

2) Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Also made in 1983 but ranked 44th highest grossing, it unfortunately got steamrolled over by coming out a week before Return Of The Jedi, least it got one week at #1 first. This film is like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Mad Max 2 and the Borg from Star Trek in a blender but having enough originality to stand on its own. The film quality still looks great which has helped it age well and I was more impressed now than when I was younger by the amount of locations and big sets they employed throughout the film that made up for the fact there isn't much going on in the way of outer space stuff.

The movie starts with a galactic cruise ship getting hit by a meteor (Titanic in space anyone) only one escape pod makes out with 3 hot chicks inside they are taken prisoner by some Marauders. Our lead Peter Strauss hears of a reward for recovering those ladies and pilots his ship to the planet they are on with his female android at his side. On his adventures there he gets help from a 14 year old Molly Ringwald and has encounters with rival hunter Ernie Hudson & The Scavs, and battles the Zoners, maggot men, merwomen, mutated firebomb throwing midgets and the villainous cyborg Overdog (played to perfection by Michael Ironside). I can easily enjoy this as much as Star Wars and I appreciate the effort they put into it to make it look good and keep the story moving.

Bit of an early Ghostbusters thing going on with Reitman producing, Hudson starring plus an uncredited voice over by Harold Ramis. Adds to the fun.

 

I'll post again about the rest.

 

One of my favourite films growing up, total schlock but enjoyable and sinister as all hell in places (the mutants mostly), have not seen it in years, I seem to recall it was left nicely positioned for a sequal...

Didn't realise it lost out due to Jedi..life is harsh sometimes.

You should check it out again, its still great fun and I got more respect for it now than ever. If it had a less cheesy title and not been killed by bad timing of its release then it'd probably still be remembered better today.

[sgmilne]

I went along to Attack on the Block yesterday. Really enjoyed it.

 

Review in the usual place.

[Hyperion]

Just got another film on my retro rewatch done.

 

3) Saturn 3

A 1980 Sci-fi film starring Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett & Harvey Keitel. There isn't a great deal of plot but I like it and I'd quite enjoy a modern day re-imagining of the film if I'm honest. The film starts when the unstable Benson (Keitel) murders a fellow pilot and steals his spot as the captain of a one man ship heading to Titan, Saturn's 3rd moon hence the title. Upon landing at the moonbase he meets his hosts, scientists Adam (Douglas) and Alex (Fawcett). Adam and Alex have been there 3 years alone with their dog and despite an age gap have become a couple. Benson takes an immediate interest in Alex and the fact she has never been to earth, he also announces he has brought the components to build an Android that will replace one of them, hinting it will be Adam. Adam realises his paradise with Alex is under threat and talks about murdering Benson to Alex. Meanwhile Benson continues to try lure Alex into bed and constructing the big robot called Hector. Using a head jack he uses his own thoughts to educate Hector's A.I., unfortunately this means he absorbs his obsession with Alex and his murderous impulses as he becomes more and more independent.

So basically an old bloke, a younger bloke and a big Android all wanna bang the same chick in outer space and none are above considering murder.

The main interest of the film is how cool the above sounds and possibly to see Keitel in space. The bad points are probably the low budget, Lew Grade financed this and 'Raise The Titanic' at the same time, as the latter went over budget the former had to have its budget cut to compensate. The SFX in the space scenes are laughable compared to Empire Strikes Back, this must have been where the budget was cut.

The acting is nothing of note, Keitel looks menacing but his lines are dubbed over and Grade ordered two violent scenes to be cut, in fact there's meant to be 20 minutes cut but I don't know if they'd improve the film, if anything the 83 minute runtime is enough.

The Android is pretty cool and the scenes of them running from him under the grating of the endless corridors not knowing where he is, is reminiscent of Alien but less tense. Not a great film but an interesting piece that I had fun watching again.

[Surf Digby]

And you get to see Farrah Fawcett's tits.

 

It's a film that I've a soft spot from when I was young (I was allowed to stay up late and watch it when I stayed at my Granparents once), but it hasn't aged that well. Had it been animated better, I think Hector would have had a shot at making the list of classic robot bad guys.